Sunday, July 14, 2019

Stephen Storace's comic opera "The Pirates", a joint project of the Meitar Opera Studio of the Israeli Opera and Ensemble PHOENIX

Photo: Eliahu Feldman

British composer Stephen Storace (1762-1796) lived and wrote at a time when Londoners loved their entertainment. His comic operas were highly popular in 18th-century England. The son of an Italian double-bass player/composer and an English mother, the composer's youth was spent entirely in the company of musicians, since his father was musical director of Vauxhall Gardens, one of the leading venues for public entertainment in London from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century. The Gardens drew enormous crowds, with its romantic paths, tightrope walkers, hot-air balloon ascents, concerts and fireworks; the Rococo "Turkish tent" became one of the Gardens' structures, the interior of the Rotunda became one of Vauxhall's most viewed attractions, and the “chinoiserie” style was a feature of several buildings. This was the climate from which Storace’s comic opera “The Pirates” emerged.  Premiered on November 21, 1792 at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, the opera created quite a stir, being performed 23 times in the 1792-93 season and mounted for King George III in 1794.

 

As to the young Storace’s musical education, in around 1776, he went to Naples in order to study the violin and, after some years back in London, he then went to Vienna in 1784, where, it is believed, he studied with Mozart, whom he had met through his sister. Returning to London, he spent the rest of his life writing comic operas for Drury Lane. Storace also published chamber music, songs, and an anthology - “Storace’s Collection of Original Harpsichord Music” (1787–89) - which included music he brought back from Vienna. His operas show the influence of the Italianate style as well as that of Mozart. His sister, Anna Selina (Nancy) Storace (1765–1817), was a noted soprano who sang her first leading role in Florence at age 15. She also created the role of Susanna in Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” (1786) after singing the role of Rosina in the Viennese production of Giovanni Paisiello's “Barber of Seville” in 1783.

 

The Israeli premiere of “The Pirates” (libretto: James Cobb) was a collaboration between Ensemble PHOENIX (music director: Myrna Herzog) and the Israeli Opera’s Meitar Opera Studio (music director: David Sebba), with support from the Felicja Blumental Music Centre and the Israeli Ministry of Culture. Stage director was Shirit Lee Weiss. The singers, guided in the appropriate Classical style of sound production and tuning by Herzog herself, were all young music academy graduates, their Meitar Studio training preparing them for future opera careers in Israel and abroad. Dr. Myrna Herzog conducted the PHOENIX musicians playing on Classical period instruments. This writer attended the performance at the Jerusalem International YMCA on July 11th 2019. In her program notes, Herzog explains that “The Pirates” and Storace’s other London operas were no longer performed after 1809, when a fire at Drury Lane Theatre destroyed the orchestral scores. What remained of “The Pirates” score was a vocal score, with a rough piano reduction of the orchestral score. David Sebba stepped in to reconstruct the orchestral score. 

 

Together with his servant, Blazio, Don Altador  sets out to rescue his love Donna Aurora from her guardian, the wicked Don Gaspero, who wants her to marry his nephew, Guillermo. The daring duo try all they can to rescue Donna Aurora, but with Don Gaspero always one step ahead of the game, things do not go to plan. Shirit Lee Weiss’s production consisted of a play within a play. Costumes and props were all on stage, with singers donning clothing items and effects over black clothes. Translation of the text into Hebrew appeared on screens. That, however, was where any correlation between the libretto and what was happening on stage ended, even for Hebrew speakers, it seems. With none of the original saucy text to follow, we English-speakers missed out big time. The constant action on stage amounted to slapstick hi-jinx unrelated to Cobb’s libretto or to any form of authentic British drollery, sophistication or stage magic as would have been experienced at the sumptuously decorated Theatre Royal, a venue featuring the latest stage- and scenic technology and boasting pitch-perfect acoustics, a place to see and be seen, no matter what your social class! But all was not lost: the Jerusalem audience delighted in dedicated, polished performance on the part of the Meitar Studio members - Efrat HaCohen Bram, Liat Lidor, Veronika Brook, Pnini Leon Grubner, Shaked Stroll, Tom Ben Ishai, Yuli Rorman - their splendid voices and natural musicality reflecting understanding of 18th century voice production and offering much to enjoy from the arias, duets and choruses. Neither did the PHOENIX Ensemble players (concertmaster: Yaakov Rubinstein), conducted on stage by Herzog, disappoint the audience, as they presented us with suave, informed and carefully balanced ensemble playing of genuine beauty and lushness. So, the hero of the evening was indeed Storace’s music - graceful and melodious - inviting the listener to indulge in its refinement and allure.

 

 

 

 
 

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